HoHum:
Object needed:
A clear bottle with a top, water, vegetable oil, food coloring.
Scripture: John 17:11-16
There are two things in this bottle. Can you guess what they are? Colored water --- and oil. When we look at this bottle with oil and water in it, the first thing that we notice is that they remain separate from one another. Now, watch what happens when I shake the bottle. The water and oil appear to become one.
Have the oil and water really become one? Let's let the bottle stand for a little while and see what happens. Look! The water and oil have become separate again. That shows us that even when they were all mixed together, they were never really one.
This bottle is a pretty good picture of what Jesus wants us to be like in this world we live in.
Before Jesus was crucified, he prayed for his disciples. He prayed that as they lived in the world, they would not become part of the world. He wanted them to make a difference in the world -- just as the water added some color to the oil -- but he did not want them to become stained by the world. He wanted them to remain the person God made them to be. He wanted them to know his love and to share that love with others.
This prayer is for us too. Jesus said that just as his Father sent him into the world, he has sent us into the world. We must live in this world, but Jesus has called us to be separate. Just as this colored water remains separate from the oil, Jesus wants us to be separate from the world.
From this web page: http://www.sermons4kids.com/in-the-world.html
WBTU:
This has been the theme the past several weeks. Been focusing on the differences between us and the world, how we are to be distinct from the world. Also been focusing on the OT. At this point we are going to transition from the OT to the NT. We have talked about how the OT and the NT center on a covenant. Started with Abraham and then to Moses. Today our covenant is based on Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for our sins. The new covenant did not replace the old so much as it fulfilled it. ““Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Matthew 5:17, NIV. The elements of the old covenant- God’s promise of faithfulness and God’s demand for our faithfulness- remain intact. No, our salvation is not based on our faithfulness that is why Jesus Christ came because we fall so short. Just as in the old covenant, when we respond to the gospel offered through Jesus Christ, God desires for His followers to live in community, reflecting His love and character in the ways we relate with one another and with the surrounding world.
When we talk about God’s community, God’s people, in our day we are referring to the church. This is correct (ekklesia) but it is interesting that in the gospel’s Jesus did not talk about the church very much. He mainly talked about the Kingdom of God or heaven.
Even though Jesus didn’t say a lot about the church, he did say several radical things about family. Look up and read Mark 3:21, 31-35
Though the nature of Jesus’ relationship with His immediate family at this point in time remains a mystery- Jesus’ provided significant teaching on this occasion concerning the relationships of his followers. In Christ, and with Christ, we are family. As family, we share relationships with the same Father. All Christians are brothers and sisters.
While many people hunger for such family closeness, we often miss the opportunities that stand immediately before us. Tammy Harris of Roanoke, Virginia, began searching for her biological mother when she turned 21. A year of searching proved fruitless. Tammy did not realize, however, that her mother, Joyce Schultz, had been searching for her for 20 years- the same Joyce Schultz who worked alongside her at the same convenience store. When Joyce overheard Tammy speaking with another coworker about her search for her biological mother, Joyce’s ears perked. The two compared stories and birth certificates. When the coworkers realized they were, indeed, mother and daughter, “We held on for the longest time,” Tammy said. “It was the best day of my life.” Christians often sit side by side in the church pews, week after week, and fail to realize the depth of relationship they share in Jesus Christ.
The early church used a term to describe the intimate relationships that naturally develop among followers of Christ- koinonia. In today’s English this translates as fellowship. Unfortunately, the idea of fellowship in today’s language fails to capture the depth of this word. Koinonia grows from the same root as koine, which means “common.” This means that people shared something in common. The NT use of koinonia indicates that Christians do not just share friendship with one another; rather, they partner with one another in Christ and for Christ.
Thesis: Koinonia bears witness to 3 things we hold in common.
For instances:
Our common inheritance
In common usage fellowship describes something subjective, the experience of warmth in each other’s presence. But in biblical usage koinonia is not a subjective feeling at all, but an objective fact, expressing what we share in together.
Paul wrote, “all of you share in God’s grace with me.” Philippians 1:7, NIV. John wrote, “that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.” 1 John 1:3, NIV. Paul added this, ““May... the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” 2 Corinthians 13:14, NIV. True fellowship is based in the Trinity. This bears witness to our common share in the grace of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Is this not what makes us one? We come from different countries, cultures and social standings. We have different temperaments, gifts and interests. And yet we have this in common: the same God as our Heavenly Father; the same Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord; and the same Holy Spirit who indwells us.
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you,” 1 Peter 1:3, 4. To dwell above with the Saints we love will be grace and glory but to live below with the Saints we know, that’s a different story.
Our Shared Service
Koinonia expresses not only what we have received together, but what we give out together. “They devoted themselves ...to the fellowship, ” Acts 2:42, NIV. This is the first use of koinonia in the NT. It does not occur in the Gospels. Indeed it could not, for there was no koinonia before the HS came.
“All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.” Acts 2:44, 45, NIV. Right after talking about koinonia (in common), giving is talked about among the early church.
Though we are not called to a vow of poverty, we are certainly to love one another and to care for our poor brothers and sisters. However, koinonia challenges us to share not only our material wealth but also our spiritual wealth. “because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,” Philippians 1:5, NIV.
Andrew, Peter, James and John are an illustration of this. They were koinonio (partners) in their fishing business on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus calls them to be partners in fishing for human beings, and catching them for the kingdom of God.
Our mutual responsibility
In our common inheritance we are looking up. In our common service we are looking on those who need encouragement and help. In our mutual responsibility we concentrate on what we share with each other, we are not facing in the same direction. We are rather gathered in a circle facing each other.
In this we need to consider the many “one another” words in the NT. They describe the exchange of Christian fellowship. The easiest example is the command to exchange love. ““A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”” John 13:34, 35, NIV. Now this is not romantic or idealistic. To love each other has very practical consequences, both negative and positive.
Negatively, if we love each other, we will not stand in judgment on each other, or speak evil against each other. “If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.” Galatians 5:15, NIV.
Positively, if we love each other, we will be kind and compassionate to each other, forbear and forgive each other, submit to each other and build each other up, practice hospitality to each other without grudges, encourage each other, admonish and comfort each other, pray for each other and bear each other’s burdens.
Bill Hybels- “The local church is the hope of the world. There is nothing like the local church when it’s working right. Its beauty is indescribable. Its power is breathtaking. Its potential is unlimited. It comforts the grieving and heals the broken in the context of community. It builds bridges to seekers and offers truth to the confused. It provides resources for those in need and opens its arms to the forgotten, the downtrodden, the disillusioned. It breaks the chains of addictions, frees the oppressed, and offers belonging to the marginalized of this world. Still to this day, the potential of the local church is almost more than I can grasp. No other organization on earth is like the church. Nothing even comes close.”
